Key Points
Bhajan Lal government's second budget highlights farmer welfare
Cooperative banks to expand loan schemes
55% of previous budget announcements implemented
Comprehensive financial planning underway
The meeting was attended by Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) Akhil Arora, Principal Secretary (Budget) Debashish Prishti, Secretary (Expenditure) Naveen Jain, Secretary (Revenue) Kumarpal Gautam, and Director (Budget) Brijesh Kishore Sharma.
For the past two months, the Finance Department has been actively engaged in budget preparation. The team overseeing this process includes Akhil Arora, Debashish Prishti, Naveen Jain, and Secretary Kumar Pal Gautam.
Deputy Chief Minister Diya Kumari will present the second budget of the Bhajan Lal government in the Assembly. To ensure comprehensive planning, Budget Finalisation Committee meetings were conducted at the Finance Department level. These meetings reviewed proposals submitted by various departments and analysed expenditure details from the previous budget.
Additionally, Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma held consultations with social organisations, business groups, youth, and women organisations to incorporate their suggestions into the budget.
The government claims that around 55 per cent of the announcements made in the last budget have been implemented.
During the Governor's address in the Assembly, CM Bhajan Lal Sharma stated that his government had made 1,272 announcements, out of which 297 have been completed, while administrative and financial approvals have been issued for 488 announcements.
The upcoming budget will place special emphasis on farmers, sources said.
The state government is likely to expand the interest-free crop loan scheme, with cooperative banks increasing their scope to facilitate this initiative. Additionally, cooperative banks may extend their services to provide both short-term and long-term loans to farmers. To support this, the government may announce a separate budget allocation for cooperative banks and land development banks.
Furthermore, there could be a significant announcement regarding the provision of daytime electricity for irrigation, ensuring better agricultural productivity, said officials.
